Sydney, Australia, to scrap monorail for LRT

New South Wales government officials in Australia have announced that the state has acquired Metro Transport Sydney (MTS), the company that owns monorail and light rail operations, in an A$19.8 million (US$20.6 million) deal. The acquisition is part of a plan to redevelop the Darling Harbour Convention Centre and precinct in Sydney, Australia's largest city with a population of roughly 4.6 million.

Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian says the monorail is in the way and it will be removed as soon as possible. Berjiklian says the monorail is not integrated with Sydney's wider public transport network and has never been embraced by the public. Plans call for the monorail to be replaced with an extension of the light rail network.

"Our options have increased in relation to light rail. Our options have increased in relation to how we integrate the convention centre with other modes of public transport," she said. "The monorail has been around for 20 years and many argue that its use by date has arrived, and that's certainly the government's position."